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Racial Profiling |
Many terrible events have taken place after the attacks of September 11. Many of those events unfortunately had to do with racial prejudice. After the attacks, many ethnicities were wrongfully targeted. Sikhs were the subjects of racial injustice just because of their long beards. Sikhs are required to grow out their hair. When ignorant Americans saw their beards, they immediately associated them with the Taliban. Many innocent Sikhs were targeted because of this racism and some were even killed.
Not only have people of Indian ethnicity suffered, but also many Arab Americans have felt the torture of being treated differently. Many Arab shops were burned down and any woman seen wearing the traditional scarf was glared at. People would start making racial comments and whispering which honestly didn't make the situation any better. Having to deal with hurtful comments from your fellow Americans is just too much to take. Then there's the period of recuperation because racial injustice is not something you can sleep on and forget about the next day.
What's absolutely appalling to me is that the airports have openly admitted that they will search anyone with a middle-eastern sounding name. That is stooping too low, especially now that we have discovered that there was a white American among the Taliban. John Walker Lindh should be the perfect example of why people shouldn't target a particular ethnicity. That goes to show you that anyone, no matter what anyone's ethnicity is should not be judged. We should heed the classic phrase, "Don't judge a book by its cover". There is absolutely no way anyone could possibly judge someone from the appearance, without knowing what type of person he or really is. That should be common knowledge.
Profiling races is just terrible. Airport security has cracked down so hard now that they pull aside anyone they are suspicious of. They simply tell the suspect that they fit a certain "profile". If that is racial injustice, I honest to God don't know what is. Is this what our country is turning into? Do we honestly have to start pulling people aside because they resemble a profile? Sadly, more than half the people who are taken into custody don't even come close to the "profile". They are wrongfully questioned because of their race, completely stripped of their rights and have no say whatsoever about whether or not they're innocent.
America should not resort to racial injustice. That in itself is a crime and should not be tolerated. We should take some time to think about what we say or do because actions speak louder than words, and words can be quite painful. Do yourself and the others around you a favor by not judging someone based on their ethnicity, you'd be amazed to find out how many amazing people there are in this world once you get to know them.